ILONGGO FOOD (cuisina ilongga)

Pochero is a certified health dish because of the goodness of pork for protein, vegetables for fiber and other minerals, and the bananas, the energy fruit we all love. Lalaine’s Eatery adds camote to it.

Below is a recipe courtesy of our dear conservative and friendly Manang Rosalinda “Sally” Nam-ay, another staff member of our dorm. We can really say that she has “the cooking thumb.” Oftentimes, she’s the one who cooks for the dorm gatherings.

POCHERO

Ingredients:

1 kilo pork (sliced)

¼ kilo tomatoes

2 onion bulbs

6 pieces banana (sab-a)

½ kilo pechay(or ½ kilo cabbage)

2 spring onions

4 pieces green bell pepper (optional)

1 tbsp salt

1 pinch vetsin

7 cups water

Procedure:

1. Prepare all the ingredients.

2. Sauté the garlic, onion and tomatoes.

3. Add salt and vetsin.

4. Put the chicken and let it simmer for about 10 to 15 minutes.

5. Put the water and let it boil.

6. When the water is already boiling, put the banana and the green pepper. Stir occasionally until it become soft.

7. Add the pechay or the cabbage and wait until cooked.

8. Serve while hot.

inday joy says: most ilonggos love putting vetsin. try to do without. it will still turn out delicious.:)

Chicken curry is named after its two main ingredients: Chicken and curry powder. Curry powder is available in tingi-tingi or retail from the wet market. Coconut milk makes it yummy and creamy. In most carinderias, it tastes mild although it can also be served hot and spicy. At Lalaine’s Eatery, located at Ybiernas St., Iloilo City, they add carrots. This recipe is also courtesy of our dorm staff, Manong Totong.

CHICKEN CURRY

Ingredients:

2 medium sized potatoes, sliced in cubes

½ clove garlic

2 pieces onion bulb, chopped

1 kilo chicken, sliced into pieces

1 pack curry powder

1 cup coconut milk

4 tsp oil

2 cups water

Procedure:

1. Sauté garlic, onions in oil.

2. Add water.

3. Put the chicken and let it boil for 30 minutes, until the chicken is tender.

Bihon is named after its noodle itself. Bihon is a stir-fried noodle dish cooked with carrots, cabbages and different kinds of meat like pork and chicken, sometimes, shrimp. The more vegetables and meat, the more special it is, although carinderias usually put less for them to earn. It is usually served in fiestas, birthdays, name the occasion! The delicious flavor is even enhanced when it is served with calamansi, and when it is still hot. It can be eaten alone as snack or can be paired with rice in a meal.

My curiosity about this tultul, a hard, brick-like, grayish piece of salt brought me to Barangay Hoskyn, Jordan, Guimaras. Barangay Hoskyn got its name from the Hoskyn Brothers- Richard Franklin, Herbert Peter, and Henry. These Brothers owned large portions of land in that area in the late 19th century. Interestingly, these brothers were also the nephews of Nicholas Loney, the first British Vice-consul of Iloilo.

For everyone’s knowledge, tultul is commonly used as a viand. Hot cooked rice and utan ( Vegetable soup ) are its best meal partners. Also, it can be used as a salt alternative.

In Hoskyn, I met the couple Serafin and Emma Ganila. Both are 57 years old and are the only ones left producing the tultul in Guimaras. According to Tyay Emma, tultul making has been a family tradition. Both couples learned the craft from their parents. “Tultul making was our main source of income and in fact, it helped us finance the studies of our children.”says Tyay Emma.

Oftentimes,according to Tyay Emma, they could not meet the demands for tultul because the process involved requires a lot of patience and hardwork. Another reason for their low productivity is that they can only produce the tultul within the months of December to May. They don’t produce the tultul during the rainy seasons because according to them,the fresh water content in the sea during the rainy seasons is high. This lessens the saltiness of the tultul and makes the tultul soft. Also, the Ganila couple can only manage to produce a maximum of 4-5 baretas of tultul per week. One bareta of tultul measures about 12 x 14 x 3 inches. Another possible factor which contributes to their low productivity is that they lack proper facilities and equipments. Most of their facilities and equipments are improvised.

Let us now proceed to the different steps involved in making this tultul. I wasn’t able to see the actual process of making this tultul because it was in August when I conducted this search and as I have mentioned earlier, they only produce the tultul within the months of December to May. Anyways, I’ll just try my best to narrate to you the steps in making this tultul.

The first step is the gathering and burning of these so called rorok-these are driftwoods basically composed of pieces of woods, bamboos, twigs, and coconut husks brought to shore by the tide. The first step alone lasts up to 5 days. The ashes of these burned rorok are gathered and are put into kaings- these are cylindrical containers woven from bamboo strips. A minimum of two kaings of rorok ash are needed before proceeding to the next step.

The ash-filled kaings are then placed on an elevated bamboo platform. Sea water would then be poured into the kaings to wash down the salt content of the rorok ash. A pail is placed underneath these kaings to catch the strained water dripping from it. The strained water is then transferred into 5 tin containers made from used cooking oil cans. Gata or coconut milk is then added to the strained water to make it mananam or savory.

This liquid mixture is the main ingredient for making the tultul.

The third step is to cook this liquid mixture so that it would become hard. The five tin containers are placed above an improvised outdoor kalan or stove. The cooking process lasts for about six hours or until the mixture hardens. When the mixture is hard enough, it is then removed from the fire and is allowed to cool inside the house. When the hardened mixtures are cool enough, it is removed from its tin containers.

The outer part would be then scraped off in order to clean the hardened mixture. This hardened mixture is the tultul. A bareta of tultul when bought directly from the makers costs for about P500. At the market this bareta of tultul will sell for about P600. Small pieces of tultul ( 2 x 2 x ½ inch )can be also bought at the San Miguel and Jordan public markets in Guimaras for P10 each.

As I bid the Ganilas goodbye, Gilbert, one of the couples’ children and the one who served as my guide handed me a cellophane. I asked him what was inside. He smiled and said “ Pasensya guid meg, amu nalang ni ang bilin eh, base sa enero pa kanu liwat makahimu sinday nanay kag tatay.” ( My apologies my friend, this is the only one left. Nanay andtatay said that maybe their next production would be in January.)

I’m Bee Jay Tolentino a business administration student at the University of the Philippines in the Visayas, college of management. I am from Guimaras,the home of the sweetest mango in the whole whole word. Drawing, Singing, and playing the guitar are my hobbies. For your comments and suggestions, you can E-mail me at lonerjeng@yahoo.com

When entering the Municipality of Tigbauan, the soothing sea breeze combined with the earthly smell of grasses and forest welcome residents and visitors. The unique combination of water and land elements make this town ideal for leisure. Just twenty three kilometers away from the busy metropolitan of Iloilo City, anyone can get an easy refuge in this haven to relax, enjoy and be near again to Mother Nature.

Tigbauan is known for its beach resorts like Sol Y Mar, Coco Grove, Reynaldo’s and Le Maer Mar. But this town is not just known for its beaches.

Tigbauanis also known for guinamos (shrimp paste). That’s why when passing the first three barangay of Tigbauan from Iloilo City, Barroc, Atabayan and Baguingin, the strong and heavy smell of hipon (baby shrimps) permeates the air. However, guinamos is not the sole product from Tigbauan. Kasag (crabs) is also abundant here. (more…)

Budgeting is a difficult practical word in a student’s dictionary especially of those who are not just enjoying their freedom when it comes to food choices but are also restricted by their limited allowances. Budgeting is quite hard to follow with the existence of classy fast food restaurants.

If someone’s looking for some home-cooked-and-very-affordable-yummy dish, the carinderia is the place to be! A carinderia is a small turo-turo or eatery that is usually family- owned. It is where all the dishes are being displayed, sometimes still in their cooking pots, and one just points to the dish that one wants. Dine in or take out. Carinderias can be found almost everywhere especially at the vicinity of universities and colleges.

What’s in a carinderia anyway? To answer such a question, we strolled around the four universities and colleges around Iloilo City: Central Philippine University in Jaro, the West Visayas State University in La Paz and, Iloilo Doctor’s College in Molo and University of the Philippines in the Visayas Iloilo City Campus in search of the Top 10 Carinderia Dishes: the most universal of carinderia dishes among college eateries of Iloilo.

And the top 10 in no particular order are:

BIHON

Pancit bihon is a stir fried noodle dish of thin rice noodles cooked with soy sauce and a variant of chopped vegetables and meat. It is a noodle dish a student can chow in his P5-10 coin.

CHICKEN CURRY

Chicken Curry is a yellowish dish of chicken and curry powder, sometimes with coconut milk. Some like it creamy, spicy and hot, but can also be served without the spicy part. It’s a yummy chicken dish costing P20-25.

POCHERO

Pochero is a famous Filipino stew that can be either beef or pork. It is a certified health dish of protein and fibers. It’s a dish where you can have the bananas at only P20-25.

ADOBONG BABOY/MANOK

It is a dish of chicken or pork marinated in a mixture of soy sauce, vinegar, crushed garlic, paminta, and bay leaf. It’s a yummy chicken or pork at P20-P25 per serving.

MONGO

Mongo is a delicious and healthy vegetable dish. It’s like porridge of mongo that can be bought at a price of P5-P15 in the carinderias.

TINOLANG MANOK

Tinolang manok is a chicken dish quite like a stew. It can usually be identified by the papaya and chicken slices. It’s a soupy chicken dish at P20-25.

FRIED CHICKEN/ FISH/PORK

A little salty and a little oily, these fried meats are really good for some kamayan tripping with their favorite dip. It’s a fried fish at P15-P20 and fried chicken and pork at P20-P25.

LINAGA

Linaga can be classified as a beef stew. It’s the leisure of beef with a touch of fruity sour flavor of batwan and langka. It’s a soupy dish with your favorite meat at P20-P25. It can also be done with pork.

LASWA

Laswa is a dish of mixed vegetables like okra, squash, string beans, malunggay, and others. It’s really easy to get to your stomach with its mucus-like characteristics. It’s your all the veggie you want at P5-P10.

PAKBET/PINAKBET

It is a dish which originated from the Ilocanos. It’s a mixture of vegetables with a little thrill of bagoong. It’s a serving at P5-10.

As we scan our top 10, we should wonder why these dishes made it as our finalists. If we dig deeper into it, we could see one or two qualities in common. It’s the ALL IN ONE or the ALL TIME factor. It’s either All Vegetables in One, All Meat and Vegetables in One, or All Meat in One. Another is that, a dish maybe an All Time Favorite.

For that, it’s not surprising that these dishes made it to our top 10. Anyone who has a tight budget (and we mean almost everyone) will be looking for the dishes that satisfies the standards of their budget restrictions, taste and health in just a serving.

Some students would usually buy an order of rice and a serving of a vegetable dish, some a vegetable dish plus some meaty dish. Some would prefer some soup or stew in rice. Students would usually come in groups and would eat the same dish. Some would have a kind of picnic on their respected dishes, if the serving was too much, some would just share in just a dish.

Most of these carinderias are pay as you order or pay after. Self service policy can be expected, but nevertheless, they don’t require you to clean your own table after you enjoyed that very delicious meal.

Do our Top 10 Carinderia Dishes sound and taste familiar? Some of us feel eating them everyday maybe a dish per meal or two. However, we always find ourselves craving for the home-cooked dish we have grown with at home (since the two of us come from the different provinces outside Iloilo: Rachelle from Aklan and Amylene from Mountain Province).

What’s the next thing that happens? We’re heading to our suking carinderia for that favorite Ilonggo dish our Manang and Manong would serve, and with matching discount! (hahaha)

So next time you pass by a carinderia, if you haven’t been to one, try checking out these yummy delights, so cheap and really fits to your budget…with some Ilonggo cooking magic!

All About the Authors*

I am Rachelle Dayne Cleope, a 17-year old BS Business Administration (Marketing) student in the University of the Philippines Visayas. My family in Aklan is not rich so I enrolled in UP (….that is aside from academic excellence).

I love the arts particularly the culinary arts. It has a very special place in my tummy and heart. Why? Because I strongly believe that the only leisurable necessity in my college life is a serving of a yummy dish and two cups of rice.

I love food yet I don’t have much to pay for a meal in either Jollibee or Mc Do. Good thing there’s my favorite carinderias around, where my lunch/dinner too, with just a 20 peso bill or two, is a dream come true.

I am Amylene Tauli, also a second year student of UPV taking up BSBA. From Sagada, Mountain Province, I traveled to far away Iloilo just to grab the opportunity of studying in the country’s premier university.

Because cooking is not allowed in our dormitory and the fact that my budget for food is limited, I eat my meals in the carinderias around the school. Actually, I was only exposed to this kind of eateries when I came here in Iloilo because they are rarely seen in Sagada. In fact there are only about two carinderias there, which are located in the market.

Carinderias are really of great help in making my allowance last longer.

She and Me…WE!!!- – THE Rachelle — Amylene TEAM-UP!!

We have been blockmates since first year. We are also classmates in most of our subjects. Here in Iloilo, we are both living in Balay Ilonggo Residence Hall in the UPV City Campus.

We are always together in meals, window shopping, research paper and reports. We knew each other very well, that’s why it’s very convenient for us to team up in this write up of ours in Humanities 1 under Professor Joy Sumagaysay.

We really enjoyed the eating, sleeping and the asaran with our dorm mates while making this Art Research.

We Filipinos are very fond of pasalubong since it is one way of showing our loved ones that even when in another place, we still fondly remember them. This tradition of long ago still continues to thrive in this modern age.

Pasalubong may be in the form of ornaments, plants, or even musical instruments. But oftentimes, pasalubong come in the form of food. These pasalubongs become extra special when they are homemade, and use local ingredients.

Indeed, a wide array of choices of Filipino delicacies is available for us food-lovers. Foreigners who visit our country never want to miss eating our indigenous cakes. They will be baffled at the kakanin varieties that have been developed from region to region. For instance we have different kinds of puto: puto bumbong, manapla puto, puto maya, puto lanson, puto gata, kalamay sa puto and a lot more.

Among the many delicacies I have tasted from different places, the one I love the most ever since I was a kid is no other than my very own Mama’s pichi-pichi. My mom prepares this for us especially when we celebrate birthdays and other special occasions. This has grown to be a “must” food when we hold family parties. Even my brothers and cousins love to eat my Mama’s pichi-pichi.

Not much has been written about the origins of pichi-pichi. Some claim that pichi-pichi originated in Quezon, a province in the Philippines known for their Pahiyas Festival celebrated every 15th of May. This yearly celebration is done by the townsfolk in thanksgiving to San Isidro Labrador for their bountiful harvest.

Today, a variety of pichi-pichi is available all over the Philippines. I have seen pichi-pichi of different colors: some are golden brown, others are pandan green, but most are golden yellow. The nice thing about pichi-pichi is that it is available all year round since the ingredients are abundant in our country.

You may think of pichi-pichi as a common delicacy. But this pichi-pichi my Mama cooks is really special. Let me share with you this recipe handed down by her own mother.

Pichi-pichi is a native cake made of cassava (kamoteng-kahoy in Tagalog and balinghoy in Hiligaynon.) An annual crop in tropical and subtropical regions, cassava is a root vegetable available in Asia and Latin America.

To prepare the pichi-pichi, the rough cassava skin is first peeled off with a knife or peeler after which, it is grated and soaked overnight in warm water. Another ingredient in making the special pichi-pichi is the pandan water. The aromatic pandan (pandanus amaryllifolius) is abundant in the Philippines. The leaves are used for its flavoring. In the preparation of the pandan water, its leaves must be boiled in water to extract its flavor. The pandan water is cooled before being added to the cassava and sugar mixture. The final ingredient is grated coconut which is used as garnish for the steamed pichi-pichi. Pichi-pichi tastes good when served warm. To others, pichi-pichi tastes even better when served cool.

The tasty pichi-pichi has already created a name of its own. This Filipino delight has always been and will always be a sought -after kakanin.

This special pichi-pichi of my Mama has already become our family favorite. Someday, when I have a family of my own, I will teach my children this food legacy.
___________MY MAMA’S PICHI-PICHI

2 cups grated cassava
2 cups sugar
2 cups pandan water
Grated coconut

? Combine cassava, sugar, and pandan water.
? Pour into two 9-inch round pans.
? Steam for 45 minutes or until set. Cool.
? Form into balls then roll in grated coconut.

Tip: By refrigerating it minus the grated coconut, the pichi-pichi can last for several days. Just add the grated coconut only when ready to serve. •